1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a worker management system, a worker management apparatus and a worker management method.
2. Description of the Related Art
At a work site such as a semiconductor manufacturing plant, various types of tasks are performed in different areas that include an equipment room where semiconductor manufacturing devices and the like are installed in a clean room. For instance, while an input operation for the semiconductor device production needs to be performed outside the equipment room and a troubleshooting operation for correcting an error in a semiconductor manufacturing device needs to be performed in the equipment room within the clean room, operations such as a parts management operation for managing parts in the warehouse need to be performed outside the clean room. Thus, workers with different skills are often needed at such a work site since the required skills for the individual operations are different.
The management of workers having varying skills is a challenging undertaking, and unless work is assigned efficiently, individual workers will not be able to achieve maximum work efficiency. Accordingly, it is desirable to increase the work efficiency of the individual workers by striking an optimal match for workers and specific types of work. While it is ideal to select and give instructions to an optimal worker to perform a given operation with the right timing, this is not easily accomplished in practice.
For instance, if a new task that must be performed arises while a worker is engaged in a different operation, the worker cannot be instructed to take on the new task. In this situation, unless the details of the operation the worker is currently performing are ascertained, a decision as to whether or not to instruct him to interrupt the current operation to take on the new task cannot be made. The new task may instead be performed by an alternative worker. However, a worker with the skills needed to perform the new task may not always be available. For these reasons, it is essential to ascertain the specific details of the task the worker is currently performing.
Since many different types of work are performed at a semiconductor manufacturing plant and the like as described above, it is extremely difficult to keep abreast of the specific tasks the individual workers are currently performing. A system disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. H8-107096 enables identification of the specific operations being performed by workers to a certain degree by pre-assigning a password that allows personnel to make entries in an operation panel screen in correspondence to each type of work so as to ascertain types of work in which individual workers are currently performing reference to passwords. An operator is only allowed to make entries in operator screens, whereas an engineer is allowed to make entries in engineer screens by first entering a specific password.
However, this technology only makes it possible to identify different types of workers (classified worker categories) such as operators and engineers and the exact task a given worker is currently performing cannot be detected through the technology. This shortcoming may be remedied by pre-assigning an ID to each worker and requiring the worker to first enter his worker ID to operate the screen at the operation panel so as to enable a detection of the exact type of work the worker assigned with the ID is currently engaged in. However, a problem arises in the worker ID entry system in that types of work that do not require screen input operations or the like cannot be identified.
Alternatively, specific types of tasks the individual workers perform may be identified by mandating each worker to enter task contents for each task he takes in an operation panel screen or the like for the record. However, workers may be significantly slowed down if they have to enter task contents each time they take on a new task, which may result in lowered work efficiency. In particular, in an emergency such as a fire or a machine failure, workers need to perform troubleshooting as soon as possible and for this reason, mandating the task contents entry for purposes of worker management is not appropriate.
There are numerous work areas including areas within and outside the clean room and areas within and outside the equipment room at a semiconductor manufacturing plant or the like, and it is thought that a reasonably accurate identification of specific task categories can be made in correspondence to the work areas where they are performed. Based upon this concept, the applicant of the present application concluded that the specific type of operation being performed by a specific worker can be identified by ascertaining the location of the worker. The present invention has been completed by taking advantage of the characteristics of specific application fields such as semiconductor manufacturing plants where a reasonably accurate identification of the categories of tasks being performed can be made in correspondence to specific work areas.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention, which has been completed by addressing the problems discussed above, is to provide a worker management system, a worker management apparatus and a worker management method that facilitate identification of specific types of work currently performed by workers, assignment of a new task and task reassignment and the like, make it possible to assign optimally suited workers to specific tasks and improve the work efficiency of the individual workers.